Fak Germany and German bicis
A German bic
Tiftakruha tar-rubber jolly?
Now there’s another hunter video that’s equally comedic – if you can overlook the primitive savagery, which is difficult. timesofmalta.com uploaded it this afternoon.
It includes footage of the sort of anti-Birdlife graffiti that will pass into legend: FAK GERMANY and GERMAN BICIS YOR GOING TO PAY and again YOU IS GOKING WIEH JOR LIFE.
Then there’s lots and lots of primate grunting as the men assault the German bicis, who turn out to be Italian, and their Maltese companion, and take their camera. I tried to make out some actual words but couldn’t. It sounds like feeding-time at the orang-utan enclosure.
The men wiped the video (or thought they did) and then, being nice, honest Catholics, they handed it in ‘anonymously’ at the police station.
I’m trying my best to work out the mechanics of a mind like that. If you’re going to assault people and steal their camera, then why not go the whole hog and chuck it off a cliff, rather than carefully wiping the footage and handing the camera in at the station? Why not just wipe the footage and keep the camera?
They’re probably kicking themselves for not doing that. The police gave back the camera to its rightful owners, the rightful owners used special software to ‘rescue’ the footage, and now the police can identify the people who assaulted them.
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Sad, but at the same time, utterly hilarious:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100420/local/birdlife-camera-records-violent-attack
@Maltese bastid,
Agree perfectly with you.
The funniest bit is the last bit in Dingli:
“Aqbez il-barra ghax aqq al-ma…..noqtlok jien”
“We are gonna away”
“X’get Away”
“Please please”
“Ohhhh newwwhh”
“Oh nooh”
“Hudielu”
Truly, I’m not impressed. I’m not pro-hunting or in favour of bird-trapping , but if the camera owners were trespassing on a hunter’s land they got what everyone was expecting them to get.
I did not see any signs of hunting in the Dingli incident; it looks like they were on private land. They do that in Texas and my friend Bill would have fired his rifle at them.
Why am I talking like this? It’s because I’m fed up watching these hunters and trappers being persecuted by foreigners who expect the ALE section to be at their beck and call.
I like seeing people enjoying themselves in the countryside not foreigners spying over what my fellow countrymen are doing. If people are doing something wrong let the police deal with them.
We’re making criminals out of once law-abiding persons who do not have anything better to do than go to their ‘ghalqa’ with a gun in their hands. It’s not their fault.
While I was building a rubble wall in my field one of these foreigners condescendingly told his Maltese colleague that I’m doing a good job. The Maltese bloke proudly came to interpret what his German friend said. I did not tell him that I understood perfectly his friend’s Ratzinger English. Do we need these kind of tourists?
Foreigners should back off:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100411/letters/foreigners-should-back-off
This makes good reading : http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100416/letters/countryside-surveillance
@John Schembri
Quoting the Times of Malta article in question; “Mr Debono said there were no signs that his friend and himself were on private land.”
If this was so, how do you expect an individual to differentiate between private and public land?
Secondly, no provocation and/or trespassing justifies “what everyone was expecting them to get.”
To answer your query, what we do not need are individuals like you who condone gratuitous violence in any way, shape or form.
Stefan, I’m not condoning violence, I’m being realistic.The police will do their work, and judging by the comments here there are many gullible people who assume that hunters indulge in writing notices on cardboard sheets…the only letters they write on their walls are: RTO.
When entering anywhere one should assume that the land is not his. Sneaking with a camera on private land is a criminal offence.
What bothers me, frankly, is that you get hunters all over Europe, particularly in France, Spain and Italy, but they’d rather pick on a few conspicuous islanders. The avid hunters on the mainland are far and wide, and seem to bother no one, but the local hunters would appear to be trespassing on civilisation.
It’s what happens on a tiny island where the cholo and the cultivado live side-by-side.
Kev, in Italy, even people hunting in rural areas stick to their quota of pheasants, wild boar, partridges and whatnot (and respect the rules of hunting seasons), despite the fact that they are not “policed” the way hunters sometimes are here.
There are rules and they stick to them. It’s as simple as that.
@John Schembri
I am no lawyer but I find it quite hard to digest your ideas on trespassing. Am I to equip myself with a Department of Lands Survey Map denoting private land every time I want to go for a walk in the countryside?
I still believe that private land should be fenced or walled off. Painting RTO on one stone does not clearly mark boundaries.
May a lawyer or anyone more versed in this subject confirm or dispel the impression created by John’s statement?
Yes, Mandy, the Italians are known to stick to rules. A very examplary nation at that.
Kev, I can assure you that foreign organisations started taking an interest in Malta thanks to the tireless work of Maltese NGOs and not because our country is small and weak, as some claim. Why should the Maltese anti-hunting lobby refrain from using all possible forms of pressure?
It is not true that BirdLife’s tactics hurt tourism: the fact that there are Maltese (and other friends) who take steps against hunting actually balances out the bad publicity offered by the hunters themselves.
Stefan, if you don’t know whether the land is private or public, just assume that it’s private.
[Daphne – Maybe we should talk about cultivated land instead, John. Most people don’t mind if somebody traipses across their rough land, if they haven’t bothered to put up any walls or fences.]
People sometimes conveniently state that certain land is ‘nobody’s land’ (m’hi ta’ hadd) because it’s not well kept; this is not a good enough reason to enter that land even from a path. No need to be a lawyer for common sense.
No need to have RTO, just respect the land owners’ right to enjoy their property in peace.
Mandy, I have friends in Ferrara who tell me that in certain areas of Comacchio you can get shot at by poachers if you dare enter certain good areas for fishing. So much for Italian self discipline.
I apologise if I continue to harp on this point. Keep also in mind that I’m trying to establish what is actually permissable by Maltese law.
Daphne’s point on cultivated land is valid. Common sense dictates that cultivated fields are privately owned unless some individual has decided to “squat” and plant crops (unlikely, though I do remember a case of a field in Gozo with long lines of marijuana plants merrily growing “wild”). I certainly would not think of taking a stroll down a cultivated/tilled field.
However, I still can’t agree that one should assume land as private if one has no sure knowledge of it being public. I confess that apart the common sense situations pointed out by Daphne and clearly marked boundaries, I would not be able to differentiate between public and private land.
If I had to follow your directive, I will find myself walking on the concrete pavements in the same urban sprawl I am trying to occasionally escape from.
[Daphne – There is a simple rule to follow. If a person does not want you on his land, he will put up a fence or a wall to keep you out. If there is no such barrier, then it follows that he doesn’t mind you going through or even having a picnic. There are some exceptions, but as a general rule, this is a safe assumption. Cultivated fields rarely have walls or fences around them, but the fact that they are cultivated is in itself a signal to people to keep off. If the fields are lying fallow, then farmers don’t mind if you walk across them. But few fields are left fallow nowadays.]
Stefan , there are no clear cut rules of how to distinguish public land from private land, but here is the little I know added to what Daphne said: a land owner can construct pathways on his land (hara – first a is long) so that different owners who have fields leased (imqabbla) in that “hara” would have the right to pass along the said paths. The public has no right to use these kind of pathways.
Sometimes there are gates in pathways which define the boundary of a “hara”. One has a right to reach the foreshore through a path which is defined as to how far the waves reach the shore in a storm.
You should also know that public pathways have potholes while private pathways are well kept .
@John Schembri
Rigward l-RTO ta’ fuq l-irdum ta’ Had-Dingli taf inti li dik sa ftit snin ilu kienet kollha art pubblika. Sistematikament, nies bla kuxjenza u dekor, partikolarment, nassaba, ikkapparraw l-art u bnew cnut illegali fejn qablilhom. Wara naturalment, l-art in-kwestjoni qed tidher li hi privata, meta fil-verita’ m’hix!!!
rayBond , jien ktibt li jien ma’ nemminx li kaccatur jew nassab se joqghod jintilef jikteb kartelluni u swastiki fejn ikun qieghed. L-unika haga li naf li jafu jiktbu hi RTO. Rigward art li qed titiehed minn individwi kull ma’ trid taghmel irrapporta d-dipartiment ta’ l-artijiet.
Probabilment issib li l-art li ghalik kienet pubblika hi art privata li kien jidhol fiha l-pubbliku.
Scary footage. Bis-serjeta. Was that a shotgun salvo into the back of that car, sopra corne e bastonate ?
timesofmalta.com didn’t mention anything of the sort, but that’s exactly what it looked like.
It was spelt ‘Yor’. The use of old English?
Hardly.
I hadn’t realised what they meant by ‘bicis’ until I saw the dog photo posted here. It has nothing to do with biros then, or bicycles.
Another graffito says: “you is goking wieh jor life.” Maltastar editor should immediately employ them as leader-writers.
I bet you that these are the same bicis that in 1996 after Labour’s pyrrhic victory, thought nothing of tying live rabbits to their cars and hauling them along the streets. The birds they shoot at have a higher IQ than the lot of them.
[Daphne – The bicis are the women at Birdlife.]
On a serious note, should one laugh or cry at this? These people make me lose all faith in democracy. When one thinks that their vote is every bit as valid as yours…
A German bic:
Is that a gunshot through the head?
no but the knees look sore !
@Pepe’
Must be because German bicis are loyal to their master.
I’m ashamed to be Maltese.
No, I am not ashamed to be Maltese; Lino Farrugia and Calascione Perici should be ashamed for their continual defence of these criminals.
True, but remember, the media will shed a bad light on the Maltese in general. It’s like when I see horrific videos of the Chinese fur industry and I say to myself ‘My God, I hate all the Chinese, what bastards’ and it leaves a very bad impression of all the Chinese. Now if this video circulates the internet…….
Catholics my left foot – primitive SOBs who shame us all. Well, it’s on the net, so action will have to be taken. Congrats on the photo.
These people are psychologically unfit to be in possession of any gun and of any related licence.
“These people are psychologically unfit to be in possession of any gun and of any related licence”.
And they are also psychologically unfit to have a vote!
The thugs sometimes keep the cameras they steal from people in their vicinity.
Yes. Here’s a case you obviously know about. I’m posting the link for the benefit of those whose memory fails them, or who may conveniently often put principles aside when it suits them.
http://www.ifex.org/malta/2007/03/15/journalists_attacked_injured_threatened/
Hicks of the worst sort. Most probably they have a government job as *gwardjani* and procreating a new generation of misfits and bullies.
They are also so thick they got the swastika wrong!
We need a very courageous volunteer to go back to the site where the swastika was drawn. He must then ask those men …sorry I meant primates if their swastika meant a sign of peace, well being or aggression.
Preferably, he must seek out the alpha male who literally (?) swore vengeance on those poor hapless souls by cursing in his own religious belief; he seems more evolved then the rest.
That was a left leaning swastika.
Dave, can you tell me who ‘they’ are?
This is why inbreeding is wrong.
Some of the comments posted under that article are uncomfortably threatening to say the least.
I get the distinct impression that they actually believe they are justified in resorting to violence in response to Birdlife’s “provocations”.
Sorry to go out of topic but this is about the environment too.
From Maltastar.com: ” Adrian Gatt, from SRA spoke to Maltastar.com today about the next development that will further increase rural development within the Sliema Area.”
So, after a Baroque house, it appears that Sliema is about to get some farms too.
The last known arable land in the Sliema/St. Julian’s area for the last couple of decades was (is) that in the valley leading down to Balluta from “il-kirxa”. People who were born, brought up and spent most of their life in Sliema would be well aware of that fact, so the above statement is probably a slip-up by Adrian Gatt, or a misquotation by Maltastar.
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=8573
Polly-Anna
“. . . the above statement is probably a slip-up by Adrian Gatt, or a misquotation by Maltastar.”
It was a misquotation by Maltastar. Adrian Gatt did not refer to any “rural development” but was speaking about an old garden that may be replaced by blocks of flats.
The valley you refer to – Wied Balluta – is actually in St Julian’s though, isn’t it?
Rooftop farms, anyone?
@Not Tonight:
I am looking for a pent-farm in Sliema.
Who wants an old two-storey house with a small garden, own roof and perpetual ground rent of a few liri, in Manwel Dimech Street, for Euro150K?
[Daphne – Ahna minn Tas-Sliema Prince of Wales nghidulu hemmhekk, mhux Manwel Dimech.]
Jekk igib prezz ahjar nghidulu Prince of Wales qabel il-pont tal-Balluta.
[Daphne – Hekk ahjar. Jaqq, Manwel Dimech.]
Erm excuse me Daphne, but why exactly is Manwel Dimech jaqq?
I think his life story is amazing. If it was politicized decades after his death by Mintoff as a Socialist icon, it obviously has nothing to do with him.
So on what kind of land was the block of flats that Adrian Gatt lives in built? What cheek, he said “gonna li il-girien tad-dawra kollha jistghu igawdu”, and now there will be a block of flats.
How selfish – he expects private property not to be developed so that he can look at someone else’s garden from his balcony. His family was not so considerate when they built their block of flats.
Come on Daphne, don’t you think that you are giving these morons too much credit for their intelligence? I mean for them to work out that bitches are the women of birdlife! They probably think that bicis is a German word for bird watcher.
Imagine it was Charlon Gouder and Byon Jo of Super One behind that camera in the Dingli incident…The Institute of Maltese Journalists would have organised a protest in Valletta and Geneva calling for the Hunting Down of the Perpetrators of an Obscene Attack on INDEPENDENT Journalists and mltstrta would have come out with “Hunters carry out attack on Bicis and try to video camera cease.”
I cannot understand these hunters or bird trappers. I mean how would you like it if some vulture equipped with an array of fire power took pot shots at you and your family while going about your business.
It is no longer a matter of sustenance; our world has evolved, or has it? The role of humans has changed. Gone are the days that man had to protect himself and his loved ones from the animal world. We should now be protectors of the natural world and not vice versa.
I don’t see what all the fuss is about. They didn’t even use a deadly handbag, unlike that other vicious attack against a cameraman that we witnessed some weeks ago.
@C Falzon
Can you imagine one of those hunters (errm, or was it a farmer) with a handbag?
Il-kumment tieghi kien bhala risposta ghal dak li kiteb “il-Ginger”.
Till a few years ago I was completely against hunting and had very little sympathy for the hunting lobby. However as in most things on this island we have a tendency to go from one extreme to another.
It’s either free-for-all or nothing at all. I think that both extremes are bad and that you cannot change things overnight expecting someone to adjust so quickly.
Imagine that suddenly in Malta we have a law which says you cannot keep a bird in a cage. I’m sure that many people have a canary at home and love the bird to bits; imagine suddenly having to give up something you love doing (in this case rearing birds). I think that if you were a hunter who has hunted for decades you will find it very difficult to adjust.
Having said that, there are some fools who do not help the lobby’s cause and either flaunt the law killing protected birds or do what these morons have done. In Maltese, mal-hazin jehel it-tajjeb.
The bird watchers’ lobby on the other hand should not seek direct confrontation or outright provocation. Two wrongs never made a right but I think one should recognise that the hunters have lost a lot over the past few years and some are truly pissed off.
One should not aggravate others. Imagine you like fishing and suddenly fishing is banned, or playing cards and suddenly that is banned also. Even if you are willing to adjust it takes time.
Imagine a drunk husband coming home and his wife tells him he cannot drink anymore… imagine her dumping all his alcohol in the loo.
I’m sure he’d be justified in getting angry…
Hunting has been a big annoyance for many Maltese for many years. We’ve been patiently waiting for the hicks to die a natural death and those with some sense to find a better sport for these small and overcrowded islands.
Enough is enough!
Joe, both extremes are wrong. It’s wrong to have a free for all but it’s also wrong to expect hunters to go cold turkey. You cannot compare hunting to alcoholism although for some it might be as addictive.
Hunting and trapping were not illegal and when I was young. They were normal pastimes, even for kids, but not for me. I was and still am in favor of more restrictions and control but I think that everything needs to be done using some sensitivity and common sense.
I would have first and foremost attacked illegal hunting heavily making examples of those who flaunt the law. I would have started to restrict gradually and educate at the same time. If that were done I would have remained squarely on the side of the bird lobby. I think that the hunters could have been treated better – remember that two wrongs never made a right.
@John Schembri
Dawn in-nies jaghmlu kullimkien taghhom u kullimkien privat, xiehda ta’ dan hu il-karozza li kienet fit triq pubblika u sparaw tir ta’ senter fuqha.
Jahasra dawn l-erba qlafat li jahsbu li jistaw jaghmlu li jridu, iridu idahluha f`rashom li iktar deni milli gid qieghdin jghamlu u iktar qed igibu il-gebla fuq saqajhom ghax qed ipaxxu il-Birdlife u qed jixxamplaw bil moqzizerijiet li qed jghamlu dawn l-erba kriminali.
Kelli simpatija ghalihom imma issa qed iqazzu lil kulhadd u qed nigi nider ikrah mall-barranin minhabba fihom.
Dawn l-ghaqdiet qed jheddu l-awtoritajiet bil-pulit, ghax jaghmlu pubblicita hazina ghal Malta u jbati t-turizmu. Iz-zewg ghaqdiet huma mmexxija minn barranin li jigu jaqghu u jqumu mir-riperkussjonijiet ekonomici tal-pajjiz.
Kaccaturi stupidi u njuranti hawn imma l-maggoranza huma nies li jirrispettaw il-ligi. Li kien ghalija m’hemmx kacca, fi hwejgi hsara rajt minn xi tnejn minnhom, imma inkun egoist li ma’ nhallix lil haddiehor igawdi il-passatemp tieghu ragonevolment.
“Tiftakruha tar-rubber jolly?”
No, I don’t. Can someone tell me about it please?
[Daphne – There’s a video. Perhaps somebody will find it and post a link?]
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2008/04/24/a-hunter-is-accosted-by-a-rubber-jolly-and-a-man-who-is-sexually-attracted-to-continents/
Thank you, Jolly Roger. I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry now.
No so long ago the FKNK said that due to “frustration” many hunters were on tranquillisers and anti-depressants. So if and when (never say never) the hunting season opens, we will have spaced out “hunters” roaming what’s left of our countryside, with their shotguns.
How about requesting a medical certificate before issuing licences?
At the risk of sounding controversial and on the basis of being innocent until proven guilty, could it be that someone else painted that graffiti?
I mean it’s probably true that certain hunters are intellectually challenged but I am sure that, at least the word ‘fuck’ would have been written correctly or maybe ‘fuk’. I have seen umpteen instances of graffiti all over the island but never once the word ‘fuck’ spelt ‘fak’.
In my humble opinion, whoever painted it overrates the lack of knowledge of certain hunters!
If the majority of the bird-killers are Labour, then the PL is in their favour; on the other hand, if the majority of the bird-killers are PN, then the PL is against them – that is the final judgmwnt of this affair.
Meta wiehed ikollu art privata irrid itella hajt madwara ta mhux inqas 8 filati gebel. Issa li wiehed ikun jahdem l-art ma jfissirx li l-art hi tieghu u hi privata. Per ezempju, l-ahrax tal-Mellieha hafna nies jghidu li l-ghalqa hi taghhom u allura biex jinqdew bil kelma mizruha jitfaw il gurbiena allura huma jghidu li dik mizruha, fejn fil fatt dik l-art mhiex privata u mhix mahduma alavolja huma jghidu li dik l-art taghhom.
Naf x’ qed nghid ghax kelli incident darba u meta insistejt li igib provi li l-art tieghu hu qalli li dik imqabla ghandu, u wara irrizulta li il-qbiela ilha ma tigi accetata fuq 10 snin.